Maharashtra ends West Zone Qualifiers with a win over Rajasthan

by Siddharth Yadav February 14, 2019

Maharashtra concluded their Santosh Trophy – West Zone Qualifiers 2019 campaign on a very positive note after defeating Rajasthan 1-0 at the Indira Gandhi Stadium (Solapur) on Tuesday evening. The win helped Maharashtra to maintain a hundred percent record in the West Zone Qualifiers and also guided them to the final round of Santosh Trophy.

After an end-to-end display by both the sides, Dhurwesh Nijap fromMumbai made the difference between both the sides. In the 62nd minute, Dhurwesh received the ball possession around the box and comfortably placed his effort in the back of the net to break the deadlock.

Maharashtra’s organized backline proved too strong for Rajasthan as they hardly manage to threatened them. WIFA Hon. Secretary Souter Vaz, MDFA President Aaditya Thackeray, and WIFA CEO Henry Menezes had attended the game and later presented the West Zone Trophy to Team Maharashtra.

Previously, Maharashtra had defeated Gujarat 4-1 and Dadra & Nagar Haveli 10-0. More than the individual brilliance, Coach Ritesh Inumula’s side depended on a collective effort to see off their opponents. The free flowing attacking display and the sturdy defence were right there at the top in terms of the intensity.

The Maharashtra squad which participated in the qualifiers:

Players: Rohan Fasge (Pune), Owais Khan (Nagpur), Dion Menezes (Mumbai), Dhurwesh Nijap (Mumbai), Mrunal Tandel (Mumbai), Jayesh Kadam (Mumbai), Aman Gaikwad (Mumbai), Rohan Shukla (Mumbai), Vinod Pandey (Mumbai), Arif Shaikh (Mumbai), Rahul Kadlag (Pune), Sanket Salokhe (Kolhapur), Mohammad Ghulam (Nagpur), Rahul Neware (Nagpur), Sagar Chintala (Nagpur), Al Azhar Delhiwala (Mumbai), Leander Dharmai (Mumbai), Vickey Datey (Amravati), Omkar Maske (Solapur), and Linekar Machado (Mumbai).

Officials: Udayan Banerjee (Manager), Ritesh Inumula (Coach), Irenio Vaz (Technical Director), Sachin Narsappa (Assistant Coach), and Yashkumar Agarwal (Physio).